From changing how India buys and sells to 'good food, good life': meet the new Nestle India head Manish Tiwary

Manish Tiwary, new head of Nestle India.

E-commerce giant Amazon had hired Manish Tiwary eight and a half years ago to drive transformation in how India buys and sells.

In 2016, Tiwary replaced Samir Kumar, vice-president of category management at Amazon India as the e-tailer looked to strengthen its reach in its India business.

Tiwary spearheaded the company's consumer business operations and his tenure at Amazon saw the rise of digital commerce for which he played a pivotal role in strengthening seller services and creating a more inclusive platform for millions of buyers and sellers across the country.

In a 2022 interview, Tiwary had said that Amazon India's focus was on 100 million customers and the next lot of sellers, adding that technology will be at the heart of what they do and working with the ecosystem of stores, suppliers and manufacturers.

In a sudden move on August 6, Amazon India said its "country head Manish Tiwary has resigned to pursue an opportunity outside the company" as the buzz in the industry of an alleged power struggle between Tiwary and Amit Agarwal, the internet sales behemoth's senior vice-president, India and emerging markets,  grew louder.

Moneycontrol in August citing sources reported that instead of entrusting the Indian operations with one leader, Amazon created a dual leadership structure, where Tiwary and Agarwal led different teams. The restlessness in the leadership ranks translated to several exits from Amazon India in the past year or so, the report added.

An Amazon spokesperson in a statement had said that "Manish’s leadership over the last eight years has been instrumental in delivering for customers and sellers, making Amazon.in the preferred marketplace in India".

The e-commerce giant did not look for Tiwary's replacement with Agarwal getting the responsibility to oversee India operations.

On the other hand, life has come full circle for Tiwary, who has joined Nestle India as managing director of the food and beverage company, which should revive memories: prior to joining Amazon India, he spent over 19 years at retailer Unilever and related companies.

Nestle India in an exchange filing said, "Tiwary is a distinguished business executive with nearly three decades of experience in leading large-scale operations and strategic initiatives within the e-commerce and consumer goods sectors."

Tiwari holds a management degree from the Indian Institute of Management, Bangalore, and a bachelor’s degree in computer science from Birla Institute of Technology and Science, Mesra.

During his nearly two decades at the FMCG company, Tiwary assumed various sales, marketing and general management roles. He was part of the board of Hindustan Unilever, the Indian arm of the conglomerate, with specific responsibility for sales for South Asia. His last role was as the managing director for Unilever (Gulf), managing a cluster of 34 countries in North Africa and the Middle East, operating from Dubai.

Tiwary taking the driver's seat in the 'good food, good life' company Nestle India marks a significant leadership transition as he steps into the shoes of Suresh Narayanan, who is credited with turning around the company’s flagship instant noodles brand Maggi after the Food Safety and Standards Authority of India had called for a ban on the snack brand.

Currently director at Amazon Digital Services Private Limited and More Consumer Brands Private Limited, Tiwary will step down from his directorship on October 30.